


Road To Recovery

by cassandrasfisher



Series: Spectrum [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 0-8-4, F/M, mention of non-con rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandrasfisher/pseuds/cassandrasfisher
Summary: A 0-8-4 appears and Phil's team investigate. Director Fury gives Natasha a recon mission which Clint is not too happy about.  Things get a bit complicated and the two teams meet. How will things turn out when one team see the shocking news?





	

**Author's Note:**

> I know this story was supposed to be posted on November 19th, 2016, but due to some miscommunication between myself and my beta reader, the story has been posted a little late. Three-fourth of the story was beta read by a beta reader while the other one-fourth was beta read by myself and Grammarly. The art for the story was created by knowmefirst, I will post the art when it is given to me.
> 
> This story is For 2016 Big Bang for Marvel and Agent's of SHIELD.

“Whatever it is Phil, the answer is no.” Fury said.

“Sir, I need a marksman who can do a long range shooting and S.H.I.E.L.D. only has three active operatives who can do that. Two of them are not an option. Hunter in the hospital recovering from an injury and Blake is on a mission. I need Barton on this one sir.”

“The answer is still no.”

“Sir, with all due respect, without him the mission is going to take twice as long,” Phil said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Phil, your team can do just as well without the added assistance.” Fury told him. Phil let out a huff, trying to think of ways he could do this without the marksman.

“Phil, I know what you’re trying to do. It's not going to work.”

“What exactly is that, sir?” Phil asked. He had hope Fury wouldn't figure it out, but he guessed he was wrong.

“You’re trying to get word out to the Avengers that you are alive. Phil, we can't have that. You know if they knew you were alive then you would be back on the radar for the bad guys. Also it might be difficult for your team to do what they do best if people know there’s a team out there which can do things unofficially.” Fury told him.

Phil could just imagine Fury rubbing his hands over his face. This conversation happened every couple of months. Phil knew Fury was getting frustrated, but he wasn't about to give up. He wanted his family...to know he was alive.

“If you tell them and I get a chance to talk to them, then I won’t keep bothering you about this.” Phil told him.

“Phil, you know what you want is impossible right now. Don’t ask about it again, because it’s not going to happen. Can you make one of your plans work without a marksman?” Fury asked him.

There was a pregnant pause.

“I’ll figure something out, sir.” Phil said.

Fury hung up, and Phil leaned back in his chair and weighed up all the options.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Coulson said.  The door opened to reveal Skye.

“AC, can we talk?” Skye asked quietly.

“Sure. Come have a seat.” Phil told her. Skye came in and sat down in the closest chair in front of his desk. “What is it?”

“Sir, I was wondering if I could get any information on my parents… sir.” Skye asked in a soft voice laced with nervousness.

“Skye, you know those files are classified. The only person who can declassify them is Director Fury.” Phil told her.

“I know... I was wondering if you could talk to him about getting them declassified for me.”

“I’ll ask, but I don't want you to get your hopes up in case nothing comes from it.” Phil told her as a smile appeared on her face.

“Thank you. I know you can only try.”

“You're welcome. Is that all?” Phil asked.

“Yes, sir,” Skye said as she got up and left the room.

Phil went back to going over the plans he had created for the mission. The mission was to do recon on a possible Hydra lab. He hoped one of his plans had lesser chance of his team getting hurt.or killed.

Everyone gathered in the command room. Agent May stood beside Skye, who was typing something on the laptop in front of her.

Three images appeared on the screen. One was of a building two stories tall, the second one of three men; a white middle-aged man with serious eyes, flanked by two sunglass-wearing flunkies. The third picture was an unidentified object - it looked like a wooden block with some sort of writing, although in a language unrecognisable to any of the team.

“At the moment, we are going after this artifact. We have to go through this guy.” Skye said, as a red dot appeared on the man in the middle’s chest.

“Who is he?” Coulson asked her, the face didn’t look familiar to him.

“Cameron Russo. He’s muscle for the mob boss Valentine. He hasn't been seen for three weeks. Since then this object has shown up. And now, it seems like more people have disappeared since then.” Skye started, changing to another image.

The next image was of the area of the disappearance. There were a lot of red dots. There were three areas which had red spot.

“By this I figured the 084 is probably in the middle of this area.”

The red dot appeared in the center of the three red areas.

“Okay. So what's the plan?” Fitz asked as he looked over at Coulson.

“Ward will be doing recon. Once we get more info, then we can get a better sense of what’s going on and make a more detailed plan.”

Everyone gave him a nod.

“Agent May, what's the ETA to Jamestown Michigan?”

May looked over at Coulson.

“Twenty-five minutes.” May replied, as she headed back to the cockpit.

“I'll get ready to go.” Ward said, as he headed to the armory.

Ward pushed his feelings for Skye away. He need to concentrate on the mission right now. He began to go over his mental list to make sure he didn't forget anything.

Binoculars.

Check.

Rope

Check.

Grappling Hook

Check.

Communicator.

Grant touched his ear and felt the communicator.

Check.

Grant went on down the list, a routine he could do in his sleep. He finished in under a minute.

Everything was there. He was ready to go.

* * *

 

Natasha looked at the person who slept on the couch. He needed the sleep since he had just gotten back from a mission with the team. The mission had gone okay, but it did have a few wrinkles on the way back from wherever Fury had sent them. Fortunately, they had all gotten back without any of them being badly hurt.

Natasha sat at the end of the couch with a book. Some of the book pages were dog-eared from all the times she didn’t have a bookmark to mark the place she stopped reading.

The book, Pride and Prejudice, she’d ever since she was small. When she was in The Red Room she was able to hide it under her mattress. When inspectors came the book was placed where they would not look. On her last mission from the Red Room and before she got recruited for S.H.I.E.L.D. she had the book on her person.

It was a good thing she had taken the book with her on mission. This was a book she would read over and over again. Since she had it for a long time the spine on the book had a crease in it since she folded the book so she could read the book when she could have it laying on a table or in her lap.

A movement next to her caught her attention. Natasha turned to see Clint looking at her.

“What?” Natasha asked.

“I love you.” Clint told her with a smile on his face. He sat up, leaned over and kissed her stomach. “I love you guys, too.”

“I'm glad you’re back.” Natasha told Clint, taking one of his hands in hers.

“I'm glad, too. I miss you when you aren't with us. It’s different when you're not around. It’ll be nice when you’re able to go on missions again." Clint sighed.

"Yes, it will. Once the children are born, I will spend six months with them. When six months are up I will assess whether or not I feel comfortable coming back to work.” Natasha told him.

"Excuse me, Miss Romanoff. There is a Mr. Nick Fury wanting to talk to you." Jarvis said.

Natasha and Clint both looked at the clock, they saw that it was four-thirty in the morning.

"Jarvis, let him in please.” Natasha said.

It was a few minutes before the elevator doors opened to reveal Nick Fury. His stance told them he wasn't there for relaxation or for recreational purposes.

"How can I help you, Director Fury?" Natasha asked him. Fury looked directly at her.

"We need you to go on a recon mission,” Fury started. Clint’s eyes widened a bit. “It’s just for a couple of hours and then you’ll be back here."

"Fury, you do realize I am seven months pregnant, right?"

"Yes. For the moment there isn't anyone else that can do this recon mission.”  Fury told her. His eyes met Clint’s who glared at him. Fury just shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll do it.”  Natasha told him.

Clint gave her a look, which clearly said, “Are you crazy?” It was getting real close to the due date, and Clint didn't want to take any chances. Natasha looked at Clint.

“What? This isn’t a combat mission. It’s only recon.”

“Tasha, you know what could happen. Are you willing to risk the lives of our children just to do a recon mission?”

“Clint, I'm not risking anything. This is just a simple recon mission. I'm sure Fury wouldn't put me on the assignment if there was any danger. Right, Fury?” Natasha asked, as she looked at him. Fury looked over at her.

“If there was any danger to her or your children then I wouldn’t have asked her to do this. We’ll have eyes and ears on her at all times, Barton.”

Clint knew there was no way to stop Natasha from doing this recon mission.

“All right.”

“Good, now that it’s settled, you’ll need to come with me, Natasha. Clint, you’re not needed for this.” Fury announced as he started to walk to the elevator. Natasha hugged Clint and gave him a kiss before she left.

“I’ll be fine.” Natasha whispered in his ear.

The elevator door closed. Clint decided to get some more sleep and headed back to their room. The floor felt empty without Natasha there. He wanted her back in his arms right now.

* * *

 

Since finding his best friend Bucky Barnes, Steve agreed with Tony that Bucky would live with him.

Bucky Barnes flipped through the television stations, He glanced over at the clock which read noon. At the moment there was nothing for him to do. Steve was enjoying time with his new family.  

"Jarvis, I’m going out." Bucky told him.  

He wanted to try new things. Of course he wasn't as up to date as everyone else, but he wasn't going to sit on his ass and feel sorry for himself any longer.  He needed to feel like a person and he was going to do that starting now.  

Bucky had done research. He had money on him so he was going to go to the mall.  He wasn't sure how he would take being around a lot of people but if he didn’t go out he would never know. It was best to bite the bullet, so to speak.

"Sir, I would recommend you refrain from that course of action. You have not been properly introduced to the twenty-first century.” Jarvis told Bucky.

Bucky wasn’t really in the mood to care, he just knew he needed to get away from The Avengers Tower just for a little while. He needed to clear his head and if he stayed here he wouldn’t be able to get it clear of all the cobwebs he had at the moment.

"Jarvis, you’re not my keeper. I want you to let someone know where I am going, just in case someone asked for my whereabouts.”

Bucky grabbed his wallet and cellphone and headed to the elevator. He pushed the elevator button and waited.  It didn't take long for the elevator to get to the ground floor. Bucky exited the elevator and was out the door. Jarvis offered to send a car, but Bucky asked to use transportation which wasn’t connected to Stark in any way. Jarvis got an uber ride for him. It didn't take long for his ride to get there.

Bucky slipped into a back seat of the car. The driver turned to look at him, he was surprised when it was a young woman who was driving.

"Where to?" the young lady woman asked.

"To the nearest mall please.” Bucky started, as he sat back in the seat. He looked at the driver. "I’m new to the city and I need to find out where to get my hair cut and where to buy clothes. What stores would you recommend from the mall we're going to?”  Bucky asked her.

The young woman looked at Bucky.

“I would suggest to you that you get your haircut done at Lee's Barber Shop. As for buying clothes you might want to go to Old Navy, Macy's, and trying Norris's Men’s Clothes. "

"Thank you," Bucky said.

He paid her and then got out of the car. Bucky found it's strange and looked around his eyes widen in amazement. A lot has been done since the 1940s, from where he used to live. Some of his memories were coming back, but other memories we're still lost. He didn’t know if he would get them back or not. He hoped the memories with Steve would come back. He shook his head.  He returned his attention back to the task at hand.

People walked about the mall. This was all new for him, there was a lot of activity. Bucky took a few breaths before he moved to the map of the mall. He looked at the map and found the stores he needed. Bucky started to walk towards Lee’s Barber Shop. He stopped in front of the shop. He saw through the window there was a free chair so he went in. He went to the front counter there behind the counter was an elderly man who wore spectacles.

“Can I help you sir,” the elderly man asked. Bucky looked at him.

“Yes, I would like to get a haircut.”

“Would you like to have your hair shampooed as well?”

Bucky thought about it for a moment. It would feel good to feel clean again. He got a good look at his image behind the counter. It might be a good idea to get a shave as well. He hadn’t have one in a long time.

“Yes, shampoo my hair and cut off an inch. I’ll get the shave as well.” Bucky told the elderly man. The elderly man nodded his head.

“Let’s get you in the chair.”

Bucky froze for a second. The sentence sent him back to when he worked for Hydra and was about to have his memory wiped. Bucky took a few deep breath.

“Are you okay son?” the elderly man asked with concern on his face. Bucky looked at him.

“I am fine. Just thought of something. Sorry about that. I will be fine in a few moments.” Bucky told him as he followed him to their chair and sat down.

The elderly man got his hair washed, rinsed, and trimmed. They had talked during his time. It was good for Bucky. This was something which was familiar to him. He went and got his haircut from the barber when he had lived in the nineteen forties.

Bucky felt a lot better once he got his hair done. He knew he would feel better. Don’t get him wrong, Jarvis was great, but he needed to be around other people sometimes. At the moment he really didn't have anyone to talk to or hang out with so he decided to go exploring.

Technology was quite advanced for him at the moment. He really wasn’t comfortable using the cellphone. He knew having it on him it was a way for Jarvis to keep in contact with him and if he needed help he could get help at a moment’s notice.

“Thank you. Now how about the shave?”

The elderly man gave him a smile. It was a couple of moments before Bucky saw the items to shave.

“So what do you want done?”

“Clean shaven please.”

“Okay.”

Bucky just sat back and let him shave him. He was quiet the whole time. It didn't take too long to finish the job. Once the job was done Bucky looked at the work that was done. He had to admit it was pretty good. The image which looked back at him was more like a real human being and not looking like a homeless guy. This was a step in the right direction. He paid the elderly gentleman when he completed the shave. Then he walked out into the mall.

Bucky saw The Hudson Bookstore he thought it best to go and read up on the world, since it had all changed for him. Steve knew about what he was going through, but he had his own family to worry about. Bucky could take care of himself. So far so good. If he did feel overwhelmed he would head back to The Avengers Tower.

Bucky walked into the bookstore and looked around, the store was nice and a good size. He saw on the top of the shelves a title card. He looked and read each one. Once he saw History he headed that way. When he got to the aisle he saw a young woman who had a book about war world one in her hand. He turned his attention to the books on the shelf.  A couple of minutes later he had a few books in his hand. A young woman held the same exact book in her hand as he had. He caught her eye when she glanced at him.

“Ma’am are you okay?” Bucky asked as the young woman looked at him then their eyes met.

“Yes, I am fine just trying to decide whether or not to buy this book or not.”

“Are you going to enjoy the book once you purchase it?” Bucky asked the young woman. The young woman thought about it for a few moments.

“Yes I will. I am getting the books for research.”

“Research for what exactly?” Bucky asked her. The young woman looked up at him with a puzzled look.

“For my book I am writing. I take it you don’t read a lot.”

“Not recently.”

“My name is McKenna Dallas.” McKenna said. She held her breathe. Bucky looked at her, he wasn’t sure why the name should mean something to him.

“It’s nice to meet you McKenna Dallas. I am James Barnes, but I preferred to go by Bucky.” Bucky said, as he held out his left gloved hand for her to shake.

McKenna took his hand, which was after letting the breath she held go.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Is your name supposed to mean something?”

“I am a popular author. Usually when other people hear my name I get swamped by people wanting my autograph or who want to talk to me. It’s refreshing to run into someone who has no idea who I am.” McKenna admitted.

“I don’t know what it’s like. I am pretty sure it can get tiring sometime.”

“Yes it can be, but I am able to live a normal life usually.” McKenna said, as she looked at the book in Bucky’s hand. “So War World One. Are you buying the book for reading pleasure or for research?”

“A little of both,” Bucky said. He hoped she wouldn’t press the matter.

“It’s good to have books you can do that with.”

“Yes it is.” Bucky said.

McKenna looked at Bucky for he was interesting and she did want to get to know him. She wasn’t sure if he was even interested in getting to know new people. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

“Bucky, I was wondering if you are interested in hanging out for  a little while right now.”

Bucky looked over at her. He did indeed want to have someone else to talk to. Don’t get him wrong, Steve was his best friend, but at this time he had his own family to deal with. The other Avengers were weary of him. It would be nice to talk to someone other than his best friend

.

“Sure. I don’t have any other place to be.” Bucky told her.  

McKenna gave him a smile. After he hung out with her for a little while he would head back to the Avengers Tower, that was unless someone called him or showed up to take him back, which he hoped wouldn’t happen.

“Okay let’s go pay for these books and get out of here.”

They headed to the checkout line. It didn’t take long to get through the line. Bucky paid with cash. Once they were done they headed out. They walked side by side for a bit in silence.

Bucky wasn’t sure what to say. His mind was still healing from being wiped so many times in the past. He found out from the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor that he had in his blood a different type of the super solider serum than Steve had in his blood. It was the only thing which had kept his brain from turning into mush. Those were things he wasn’t ready to tell anyone at the moment. Bucky could see McKenna and being at least friend for now. He did hope it would turn into something more.

Bucky’s stomach growled. McKenna looked at him.

“I take by the sound your stomach is making you haven’t eaten today.” McKenna said. Bucky didn’t say anything he just nodded his head. It was then McKenna grabbed his right hand and pulled him towards the food court area when they touched it felt like electricity running up his arm. The smell of food in the air did make Bucky hungry.

“So what do you feel like eating at the moment?”

Bucky looked around at the different places and wasn’t sure what to pick. When he was back in the 1940’s there was nothing like this. For him it was starting to be a bit much. He knew he couldn’t lose it in front of her. He needed a moment to collect himself. Bucky looked at her and took out some money and handed it to her.

“I will find us a seat why don’t you surprise me.” Bucky said, as he got an eyebrow raised from her. McKenna took the money and headed to a restaurant. Bucky found them a seat. He sat down and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. It was something his therapist had taught him.

It was a few minutes before McKenna came and sat down in the seat next to him. She just watched him.

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am fine why do you ask?”

“You looked a little overwhelmed there for a moment. I just want to make sure you are okay.”

“I just need to eat.”  Bucky lied.

He didn’t need to tell her who he was. It was nice not to have to worry about that. He was going to get to know her. McKenna gave him his change back. Bucky took the money and put it in his pocket.

“So what made you come to the mall today?”

“I just need to get out of the house today.” Bucky told her. He had to admit he felt like a normal person around her. McKenna gave him a smile. “What about you?”

“I came out to get books for my research. I was planning to go home afterward, but I met you and here we are having lunch together.”

It was then their number was called. McKenna was about to stand to get the food, but Bucky picked up the ticket.

“Let me get it.” Bucky said.

He got up and headed to where their food was. He picked up the tray and walked backed to the table. He place the tray in the middle and sat back down. McKenna put his order in front of him then she got her order. It was a burger, fries and a drink. Bucky got both their drinks. They ate and talked a little bit. They finished their food and put the tray up. They decide just to sit and talk for a bit.

“Bucky I hope I am not being too forward, but I was hoping I could get your number so we can talk again sometime.” McKenna said, as her check felt a little warmer.

Bucky looked over at her and nodded his head. He took out his cell phone and handed to her. Her eyes had widen a bit.

“This is the new Stark phone. It’s not even out yet? How’d you get the phone?”

Bucky wasn’t sure if she should tell her he knows Tony Stark or not. Bucky decided not to say anything about knowing Tony Stark. He knew Tony liked his privacy.

“A phone company wanted to test the phone out before they came out. I’m in a trial run of the phone.”  Bucky lied to her.

“Okay cool. Let me just activate an app on my phone and then you will have my contact information.”

It took only a few moments before Bucky looked down to see her information was on his phone. When they were done they put the phones into their pocket.

“So what do you want to do next?” McKenna asked.

It would be nice to hang out more, but Bucky could tell he had enough of being out today, he wanted to go back and get back into familiar surroundings.

“I actually need to head back. I have a few things I have to do back home.” Bucky told her.

He hoped they could hang out again sometime. This was nice, but he knew he couldn’t stay forever. There were things to be done.

“Oh...okay. I guess I will see you later.” McKenna said. She picked up their trays and put them away.

“It was nice to meet you. I guess I will talk to you later.”

“All right.” Bucky said. He watched her take off towards the exit. Bucky then called the Uber to come pick him up. It didn’t take long to get back to the tower.

Bucky headed back to his floor and headed to the living room he sat back down and started to read the book that he had bought.

* * *

 

It wasn’t long until the BUS arrived at Jamestown Michigan. They parked in an open field. The BUS was in stealth mode, so no one could see it.

“Okay, everyone know their jobs?” Coulson asked, as he looked at the member of his team. They all nodded their heads. “Let’s move out.”

Ward grabbed his gear and headed out, but not before he glanced over at Skye. He hoped nothing went wrong with this mission. He was joined by Fitz and Simmons. They found a car parked nearby. Grant was able to hotwire the car. They got in and Grant drove off.

It was silent on the way to the building they were going to use to attack from. Fitz and Simmons were going over the gear to make sure they were working properly. It would be bad if their gear ended up not being any help to them in the end. The mission was important and they had to make sure to get this 084 out of anyone else’s hands.

The car stopped a few blocks away from the building they were going to be in. Ward watched other people move about the area. For a split second he thought he saw a red haired woman, but when he looked again there was no one where he thought there would be.

“Ward you okay?” Leo asked. Grant looked over at him.

“Yeah, fine. Just thought I saw something, but I didn’t.”

“Okay. We’d better get a move on, the sooner we get this 084 the sooner we can get back to the BUS.” Leo said, as he took the last of the gear out of the car.

Grant, Leo and Jemma carried their gear into the building next to the building they intended to use. They would find a way to get to the other building. Grant kept his eyes out for a way to cross to the other building without being detected. When he did see away he took it. It wasn’t long until there were in the other building and started to set up their gear.

It took less than five minutes to set everything up. Grant looked through the telescope as Leo and Jemma sat and started to work out a plan to plant bugs in the building where the 084 was located  which was across the street from where there were.

Everything was quiet as far as Grant could tell. He really hoped everything went off without a hitch. Of course he knew in every plan there was something bound to go wrong. He had been with this new team for a little while and he considered them a family. He was going to protect his family by any means necessary.  Leo was like a brother he always wanted. Jemma was like the sister he never had. Phil was like the father he wanted and May was the mother he always wanted. Skye on the other hand was the woman he loved and would do anything for.

“Do you guys have anything yet?” Grant asked, as he kept his eyes looking through the telescope.

“Not yet. I am actually seeing if there is anything transmitting to see if there is a way we can get what we need without having to go and plant bugs.” Leo said, as he moved the dial on the radio- like device slowly.

“Good thinking. Let me know if you two find anything.” Grant said, as he went back to survey the building.

He kept an ear towards where Leo and Jemma were, just in case they did end up with something. He would be able to give them his full attention when the time came.

Jemma looked over the blueprints of the building where the 084 was located. It was a current blueprint so everything was current and there would be no surprises if they did decide to breach the building.   

She studied the blueprints carefully. In her mind she tried to figure out ways to get in there without getting caught. So far all her ideas ended up either her or Leo being caught. Ward going in wasn’t even an option. He was needed to provide back up if it came to that.  Jemma needed to come up with a great plan which had them in and out with the bugs planted without getting caught.

“Fitz, do you have any ideas on how we can get in without getting caught?” Jemma asked him.

It wasn’t hard to ask Leo for help. They were really good friends and had been since they met at the academy. Jemma couldn’t think what her life would be without Leo in it.  Jemma watched as Leo looked at the blueprints; it was a few minutes before he said anything.

“We could use the drones.” Leo said, as he put a hand on the briefcase which sat next to on the table. Jemma hadn’t even consider using them.

“That’s a possibility, but how are they going to stay out of site? I am not sure if there are a lot of places which they could hide from site.”

“It would be good if we knew how it looked inside.”

“We could send one to see if we could get in and see how things are in there.” Jemma quietly said. She wasn’t sure if that was visible or not. What would happen if they had security and caught their drone making its way into the building? Was the risk to do that fair or was it unfair? The decision would have to be made.

“Ward we are going to send in one of the drones to go take a look inside.” Leo told Grant. Grant looked over at both Jemma and Leo.

“Okay. The faster we get this done the better I will feel once we are all safely back on the BUS.” Grant told them.

Leo and Jemma nodded their head in agreement. Leo then went to work to get one of the drones ready to use. Once the drone was prepped and ready to go they sent it out to the building across the street. Jemma controlled the drone.

Jemma watched on the monitor as the drone came to the window. There was a clear view inside the room. The room looked to be empty except for a stand in the middle of the room. On the stand sat a blue ball which had a glow to it.  Jemma assumed that it was the 084. She moved the view towards the left and right to see how much of the room she could get. It wasn’t much, but it did catch a couple of people in hazmat suits. Of course they would be in hazmat suits due to the fact they had no idea what they had.

It was an alien artifact and they wouldn’t know what to do with it unless they were from the species which knew about the device and what it did and how it worked. She really doubted anyone in that building knew exactly what the 084 was. They didn’t know, so that was why they were going to get their hands on it and put it in a secure location.

Jemma, Leo and Grant watched as one of the people in the hazmat suit went up to the blue ball and took it in it hand.  It was a few moments before anything happened. They saw the person being sucked into the blue ball, then there was a ray of light which hit the other person in the hazmat suit. The person in the hazmat suit fell to the ground. Then the blue ball pulsed twice then went back to being inactive.

“Okay now that’s going to be a problem.” Leo said, as he looked at Jemma. “Maybe we could incase it in a lead box. I bought one just in case… well two wasn’t sure what size we would need.”

Jemma reached into the bag which was next to her seat and pulled out the two lead boxes Leo had brought with him.

Once box was larger than the other box. If you set them side by side you could tell that they were different. The smaller box was on the left side of the table and the larger box was on the right side of the table.

“We are using the larger box. Whoever goes in and gets the 084 is not going to touch the 084 at all. It’s not safe and we have no idea what will happen if we do touch it.” Jemma said.

Of course she would volunteer first to make sure Leo wouldn’t get into any danger. She loved Leo a lot, even maybe a little more than brotherly love. It wouldn’t do any go to let Leo know what she was feeling, so she stayed quiet.

“Okay. Let see if we can see more of the building so we know how to get in and out without being detected.” Leo said, as he looked over at the blueprints again.  

Grant figured once they had come up with a plan they would let him know to see if the plan was viable or not. He looked over the blueprints to see if he could come up with a plan as well. It was a couple of minutes before they got back to the drone investigation of the building. It was a whole ten minutes of surveying the building before they got a clearer picture of what the inside of the building looked like.

It was then that they started making plans to go in and get the 084.  It would be Jemma and Grant who would go in for the 084. Leo would watch their backs when they went in. Grant and Jemma made their way towards the building when they knew the coast was clear.

* * *

 

Natasha and Nick Fury made their way out of the Avengers Towers there was a car for them as soon as they left. Natasha got into the passenger seat while Fury took the driver seat. Once they were settled in Fury drove to S.H.I.E.L.D. base.  They headed inside.

“So exactly who do you need me to do surveillance on?” Natasha asked him. Fury handed her a blue folder with Top Secret stamped in red on it.  

“Valentine is who I want you to keep an eye out for. At the moment I am not sure what he is up to. This is why I want you to do the surveillance mission. I want you to figure out what he is up to and let me know what he is doing.”

“Okay. Where is he right now?” Natasha asked him, as she skimmed through the folder she was handed only moments ago.

“Jamestown, Michigan.” Fury told her. Natasha nodded her head.

“When do I leave?”

“In ten minutes.” Fury told her, as he turned and left her to get ready for the mission.

Natasha headed to the Quinjet, she took the co-pilot seat.  The pilot looked over at her.

“Agent Romanoff,”

“Agent Summers,”

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes I am. Let get a move on.”  Natasha said, as she watched him go through the procedure of getting ready to take off.

It took a few minutes before they were under way. Natasha decided to take a nap since it would take at least thirty minutes to get to the place where she was going to be doing surveillance from.  She let herself rest. She knew Scott Summer would wake her once they were at the destination.

It didn’t seem like long until she felt herself being shaken awake. Her eyes opened to see it was dark outside it was early in the morning. It was good they had decided to come in the early morning it meant they wouldn’t have to use the stealth mode. Plus it was dark enough no one saw the Quinjet.

“We’re here.” Agent Summer said.

“Thanks.”  Natasha said, as she stood and exited with her bag and backpack with her. She was safely on the building roof when the door to the Quinjet closed. A minute later it took off.

Natasha watched as it left. When she could no longer see it she went inside. She found the room with the best vantage point and she set her things down and waited to see what would happen. She wasn't sure what she would gather, but she had a feeling something was definitely different on this recon assignment.

Natasha brought the binocular to her eyes and she planted them on the building which Valentine used as a base. She was better at waiting than anyone else. Of course this was before she got pregnant. She had to adjust everything she did to include her being pregnant.

The missions she had missed out on made her a little anxious to get back out there, but she didn’t want to endanger her children in any way.  The doctors were under strict orders not to tell them anything about their child or children. Clint and Natasha wanted to be surprised.  Natasha put a hand on her stomach and smiled to herself as she imagined what it would be like with her child or children in the near future. Things would definitely be different around the towers with kids.

Natasha hadn’t gone to see Jillian since she had her children. Steve had kept them updated. S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to keep an eye out for any side effect the gases might have on the children after they were born. Steve wanted to get Jillian and his children home as soon as possible.

Natasha saw movement from one of the window. Well it was a faint blue glow, but then it disappeared. Natasha wasn’t sure what it was, but she was getting curious about the blue light.

There was nothing in the report which mentioned anything about a blue light.

It was something she would investigate if the light showed up more than a couple of times. As time went by Natasha didn’t see Valentine at all. She saw a few people who came in and out of the building, other than that there was nothing. Natasha did end up taking a few short naps. The snacks in her bags would hold her over for a little while.  Natasha saw the blue light a total of seven time in the past seven hours. She was going to investigate what the blue light was once she felt it was safe enough to check out.

When Natasha felt she could she made her way downstairs she had her backpack and bag with her. She went to the building’s side doors which she knew would be unguarded at this time.  

After she crossed the street before going to the door which was unlocked she glanced over to see a car as three people stepped out. Natasha thought she recognized one of them, but she had to check this out. For a second she thought she had caught the young dark haired gentleman eyes, but she couldn’t worry about that now. There was something she was going to check out before someone caught on she was snooping.

Natasha made her way to the door and opened it, she waited a second to see if there was an alarm which would go off, but it didn’t. Natasha worked her way into the building. It was a full five minutes before there was a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey you shouldn’t be here.” a voice said. Natasha turned around to see an elderly man dressed in a white lab coat.

“Sorry, but I needed to use the bathroom and I tried the door and it was open so I came in. I didn’t find anyone here. So I was looking for an office or a bathroom, but I haven’t found one yet. I really got to go.” Natasha said with an urgency behind it. The doctor looked at her.

“I’ll show you to the restroom and then I will show you the way out.” the doctor said.

“Thank you,”

The doctor showed her to the bathroom. Natasha used the bathroom and then when she was done she followed the doctor towards the exit. They just happened to past by the room where the blue glow was from.

Natasha saw two people in hazmat suits go to the blue ball one of them went over and touched it. The person was sucked into the blue ball, then the blue ball shot out a ray of light at the other person who fell down after it hit him.  Unknown to her there was a second ray of light which shot out from the blue ball and hit her.

Natasha felt different for a few seconds, but thought nothing of it. The show only took a few seconds to happen. It wasn’t enough time for the doctor to realize she hadn’t followed him. Natasha took a step when the doctor appeared.

“Miss you need to get a move on.”

“Yes, coming.” Natasha said, as she moved towards the exit.

About half way there she felt faint and then she passed out. The doctor wasn’t sure what to do he stood there and debated it.

He took a few moments then he headed off in another direction than the way he had come. He needed to get back to his project. He would call someone to come and help this young woman out of the building. He had more important things to worry about then a pregnant lady at the moment.

* * *

 

Grant and Jemma had made it into the building and were able to get the 084 without any problem. They were on their way out when they stumbled upon her.

“Grant who’s that?” Jemma asked as she looked down at the form on the ground.

“I am not sure. We need to get out of here before someone figure out the 084 is missing.” Grant said. He looked at the pregnant woman more closely it was then he recognized who she was.

Grant scooped her up and headed towards the door. Once outside they headed for the car. Leo had loaded all the gear up and was ready to go. Grant placed Natasha in the passenger seat belted her in, then he went to the driver’s side got in and started the car. They drove until they got to the clearing where the BUS was.

They left the car at the side of the road and walked the rest of the way there. Grant saw the surprised looked on Phil’s face when he realized who Grant was holding. Grant got her to the med bay. Jemma had started to examine her. Leo had got the gear put away.

“We are going to debrief in ten minutes,” Phil said, as his glance over to the Med bay area.

Phil really wanted to know how Natasha was doing, but first he needed the team to debrief before anything else. This time around no one got hurt and Ward’s skill for being a sniper wasn’t put to use. It didn’t take long for everyone to end up in the room that they used as a command base.

Phil looked over at Ward. “Report,”

Grant launched into the report, everyone listened. After he finished Phil asked if Leo and Jemma had anything to add; they did so everyone listened to what they had to say. When the briefing was over everyone looked over at Phil. He knew what they wanted to know.

“The person who is in our med bay is Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. The Black Widow.” Phil simply told them.

“We know that AC. Our question is why was she in there in the first place? She’s pregnant. I am positive Fury wouldn’t have put her in the mission in her condition.” Skye observed.

“Fury and I are going to have a long conversation about this soon.” Phil said, as he put his hand in the pocket where his cellphone was. He pulled it out. “Jemma please keep an eye on her. If there are any changes notify me immediately.”

Phil was worried. Natasha was still unconscious. This wasn’t good. He had no idea what happened in the building. If things had gone wrong and Natasha was hurt, Fury wasn’t going to hear the end of it from him.

“Phil,” Natasha surprised voice said from the door. Phil looked over at her.

“Hey.”

“You’re alive.”

“Yes. I am alive. Fury isn’t going to be happy about this.” Phil said.

“Oh...he is definitely not be happy once I get through talking to him.” Natasha’s dangerously low voice told him.

Phil didn’t want to be in Fury’s shoe when Natasha next talked to him. He wasn’t sure exactly what would happen to him now. A woman’s scorn isn’t a good thing, but compared to Natasha scorn it was child’s play.  Phil stood there as still as a stick in the mud. Natasha walked up to his side and gave him a hug.

“I am glad you are okay. You and I have a lot to catch up to do. I am glad you are alive. Lana will be so happy to hear you are alive.”

Phil perked up when Natasha said Lana. Phil was glad that Natasha knew he was alive, now maybe Fury would let the other Avengers know too. Things started to look good. He hoped it would stay like that for at least a little while.  Don’t get him wrong he loved his new team, but he missed being able to interact with the old team.

“I am glad to see you haven’t forgotten about her. She’d a hard time after Clint told her you were dead. I don’t envy Loki if she ever found out he was the one that hurt you.” Natasha said as she saw all eyes focused on her.

She guessed Phil’s new team didn’t know about the battle against the aliens about  a year ago.

“I told Fury I wanted you guys to know I am alive, but he hasn’t let me contact anyone. If I had try to contact you guys then Fury would’ve buried me in paperwork and I would have no way to contact you guys later. So I went with the logistical choice.”

“I am glad you did, now since I know you are alive we can talk.”

“Yes, I would love to talk to you. It’s been too long since we last talked.”

“I know.”

It was then when Phil realized his whole team was still there, Phil looked over at his team.

“Dismissed.”  Phil said, as he nodded at each of them.

He and Natasha watched as they all left the room. Phil was glad he was able to obtain this from Fury when he did. Phil turned his attention back to Natasha. He was sure there was no way of Natasha getting pregnant but in front of him, Natasha stood pregnant, about seven months he guessed.

“So how who’s the father?”  Phil asked.

“Barton,”

Phil was happy for them. He really did want to ask about Lana, but he felt like it wasn’t his place to ask, because of what have been done to him and the rest of the Avengers. Natasha must have picked up on this.

“Lana’s fine. We just ran into a bit of trouble and she’s seven months pregnant as well.” Natasha told him, as his smile turned into a frown. Natasha saw this. “Phil the story I have to tell you is a bit long, but please  hear the whole story before you convince yourself you have lost her. I can tell you she still loves you.”

The light in Phil’s eyes shined a little brighter.

“I am all ears for it.”

“Phil, aren’t you going to speak to Fury. Plus I have to check back in. Clint’s going to worry about me if I am not back in a few hours. Fury told me this was a mission to gather information only. After I saw the blue light go off seven times within five hours I went to check it out.”

Natasha let out a sigh.

“I ran into a security guard, had it use the bathroom, when I got back from the bathroom I passed the room where the blue ball was. I saw it suck in one guy and make the other guy turn to mush. Before you say anything. I know going to investigate was a stupid move. I am kicking myself for that decisions.”  

Phil knew he was going to make sure he added that in the report before he sent it to Fury. There were going to be notes attach to it.

“Yes, I am. Why don’t I have someone help you back to the med bay to rest? I am sure we can get you back to S.H.I.E.L.D. .” Phil said, as he gave her another hug. Natasha looked over at him.

“Everyone moved into Stark Tower, which is now named The Avengers Tower… that is except for Thor who is still at his own home at the moment”

“Wow, a lot has happened since I died.” Phil said, as he did air quotes when he said died. Natasha raised an eyebrow at that word.

“Yes it has. I am sure the guys would be happy to see you as well as our new residents.’ Natasha said, as she put a hand on her stomach.

Natasha knew Fury and he hid the fact Phil wasn’t dead from them for a reason, but after they defeated the aliens, it would have been smart to let the Avengers know Phil Coulson wasn’t truly dead.

She wasn’t sure how the others would react to the news Phil wasn’t dead. Clint was the one she was worried about. The death of Phil was hard for Clint, but he coped with it. Now Phil was alive and she had no idea how anyone would react.

The news was a bit of a shock for her, but she was glad at least she knew Phil was alive and well for the time being. Things could always change in their line of work at any time. They both knew this.  Jemma came over and helped her back to the med bay, Phil on the other hand went to his office to call Fury.

Fury picked up on the second ring.

“We have Agent Romanoff on the BUS and she knows I am alive.” Phil told him before Fury could say hello to him.

“Shit.”

Phil could imagine Fury face. He had a feeling Fury’s lips were in a thin line and he was sure he was cursing himself in his head. He did wonder how Fury was going to get out of this predicament he put himself into.

“Why was she there, Fury?” Phil asked, as he balled his fists and then unclenched them. He was going to be pissed if there wasn’t a good reason to have her close to something so dangerous.

“I had her doing surveillance on Valentine. Didn’t realized it would put her directly into your guy's path.”

“You do know she’s seven months pregnant?”

“Yes, she was only supposed to watch him, not get herself into trouble.”

“I am going to return her to The Avengers’ Tower. I suggest you don’t argue with me on this. It is better to rip the Band-Aid off instead of trying to take it off without any pain.”

  
Fury sighed. It was then he knew he had won the battle with Fury about The Avengers knowing that he was still alive.

“Fine go ahead. Oh...about the other request I will not help you. You need level 10 clearance to read those files.”

“Thanks. You know you have the Avengers team to deal with.” Phil reminded him.

“Don’t remind me.” Fury said, as the line went silent.

Phil wondered exactly why he would need level 10 clearance to get a hold of Skye’s birth certificate. Now this intrigued him. There wasn’t anything which he wouldn’t figure out. It was only a matter of time before he’d figure out what was really going on with Skye’s birth certificate.

Phil would let it drop right now because he had to prepare himself for seeing Lana again as well as the rest of the Avengers. He knew things were going to be different from then on between him and the other Avengers.  

He hoped the dynamic between Clint, Natasha, and himself didn’t change. If it did then he would have to deal with it. There was no avoiding it at all. He was happy he would his old team back.   

His new team was great as well, but he wanted to talk to his old team. He didn’t realize how much he missed them until he could talk to them.

After Jemma helped Natasha back to the med bay she went and found Leo who decided to work on one of the inventions in the lab.

“Hey what are you working on?”

“I’m trying to figure out a way to go invisible just in case we need it.”

“Do you need any help?”

“If you could look over the notes that would be great.” Leo said as he handed her a pad with his writing on it.

“Sure. Do you want me to make any suggestion or notes on another sheet?” Jemma asked Leo as he concentrated on a certain area of the device he had in front of him.

“Yes, that would help out a lot. Thank you” Leo said, as he grabbed a tool which was next to him without taking his eyes off the device.

“Not a problem.”  Jemma said, as she started to read over the notes which Leo handed her.

May was in the cockpit. She was glad the mission went well and no one was hurt. She had been glad when Skye stayed behind. She would talk to Phil about Skye getting training to at least know how to keep herself safe when she ended up into troublesome situations. If need be she would teach herself if Coulson told her no.

For some reason she felt a connection to Skye, she just didn’t know what it was. May wanted to figure it out. Not knowing was going to bug her until she figured out exactly the reason why she was connected to Skye. May looked out the window and waited until she got the next coordinates from Phil.

Grant and Skye ended up in the gym area. Grant had changed and started to punch the bag. Skye leaned up against the wall and watched him.

“So Ward, how long have you been with S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Skye asked him. Grant looked over at her. He knew she was trying to get to know him better. He didn’t mind at all, after all he wanted to get to know her better as well.

“I have been with S.H.I.E.L.D. since I was eighteen. It’s not all fame and glory.” Grant  said, as he hit the punching bag with his fist.

Skye studied Grant for a few minutes. It was interesting to know that fact about him. His record didn’t say that they had recruited him when he was eighteen. She thought Grant had been asked to join when he was twenty one.

“Good to know. I have been in total of fifteen foster home since I was a baby until I turned sixteen. I ran away from my foster parents and have been on my own since then.” Skye told him.

She wasn’t going to go into more detail than that for now. Skye didn’t want to be hurt, so she didn’t let many people get close to her. This team she was a part of has somehow felt like family to her. Skye planned on keeping her family safe from any danger. Her attention was brought back to the present when Grant put a hand on her shoulder.

“Come here,” Grant said, as she took his hand and followed him.

“Hit me.” Grant told her.

“I am not going to hit you.”

“Skye, this is going to help you. I am going to train you to fight. To help take care of yourself. I know full well you can take care you safe of yourself right now. I just to make sure you have more than street smarts to keep safe.” Grant said as one of Skye's eyebrows raised.

Skye tried to hit him, but she wasn’t even close to hurting him. For the next couple of hours Grant gave Skye her training lesson. Grant wasn’t sure what Coulson would say about him training her right now. He wanted her to be able to defend herself if there was no one there to help her out of a situation.

* * *

 

It only took a couple of hours to get to The Avengers’ Tower. Phil knew this was going to be a shock to The Avengers Team. He was surprised to see the tower had a landing pad which could hold the BUS.

Once they landed, Phil saw Tony in his Iron Man suit, and Bruce Banner who wasn’t hulked out yet. Clint who was in his Hawkeye uniform, he held his bow and arrow on the BUS.

Phil didn’t blame them. After all they did come in unannounced.

Thor was on Asguard as he was told by Fury and Steve was with Jillian at the hospital. He wasn’t sure who Jillian was, but he hoped to get to know her once the revelation that he is still alive was taken care of. Then there was the matter of Lana. He hoped she was happy even if it wasn't with him. Her happiness was all that mattered to him.

Phil and his team with Natasha, who stood beside them, made their way to the back entrance when the he opened the hatch.

He looked at each of The Avengers after the door had opened. They were all shocked. Tony’s arm fell to his side. Clint’s bow and arrow fell to the ground after he saw Natasha. He rushed over to her side.

“I am glad your back.” Clint said. It got a smile from Natasha.

“It’s good to see you too.” Natasha replied. Clint looked her over. “What happened?”

“We are not sure. We found her in a building unconscious when we were in the air she woke up. I think she needs to be checked out to make sure everything is okay with her.”

“Let’s get her to the Medical Floor.” Tony said.

A couple of his medical staff came over and helped her to the Medical Wing. Clint followed.

Tony pointed a finger at Phil. “We’re not done talking yet.”

Phil nodded his head as he watch Tony follow the medical team.

Phil knew it was a good idea to get back to the mission at hand, but right now his main concern was those who he considered family. He needed to be there. For whatever the consequence Fury had thrust upon him with the lie he’d been hiding from the team he consider his family.

He knew his family would be angry with him, but he would do whatever he had to earn their trust again. He hated to be away from his family and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. He’d die a hundred times over to keep his family from having to suffer pain again on his account.

Bruce walked up to him.

“It’s good to see you again. So I take it Fury kept you been alive a secret from us for a good reason.” Bruce said with a little bit of annoyance in his voice. Phil didn’t blame him.

“Yes, he did. Even after I have, on numerous occasions, asked him if I could contact you guys and let you know I am alive.” Phil replied.

He knew he was probably have to explain this quite a few time to the whole team. Not all of them were there at the Tower at the moment.  Phil knew his team was behind him waiting patiently for him to make introduction. “Where are my manners? Bruce Banner this is my team. Team meet Bruce Banner aka The Hulk.

“Hello,” Bruce said. The team gave him a wave. “Are you guys staying for a while or are you on your way out?’

“I am going to go park the BUS at the airfield and then I will make my way back to The Avengers’ Tower.” May said, and then she looked over at the others. “Anyone want to join me?”

Everyone shook their head.

May turned and left. Once the BUS was out of sight Bruce showed them into Tower.

It didn’t take them to long to get settled into the common room. Of course Phil figured as soon as Tony was free then he would give them a tour of the tower.

Grant and Skye were sitting on the couch talking while Jemma and Leo were sitting at the table in chairs with notebooks spread across the table. They seemed to be in deep discussion. Phil on the other hand looked out the window. Bruce had to go check on a few experiments he was running. Phil was glad he could relax for a little while.

The door opened he turned to see who had come into the room. He was surprised to see a very pregnant Lana.

“Phil.” Lana said, as she fainted. Grant caught her before she hit the ground. He put her on the couch.

“Do you know her?” Grant asked him. Phil looked over at him.

“Yes I do know her. She’s my girlfriend.”

One of Skye's eyebrow rose.

“You have a girlfriend?” Skye asked. Not sure she believed the news.

“No, she’s my fiancée, why is that so surprising to you?”

“Didn't know you had a life outside of being an agent, that’s all AC.” Skye said, as she looked over at Lana.

It was a few minutes before Lana came around. She had just put Brandon down for a nap. Jarvis was watching him. When she opened her eyes she saw Skye next to her.

“Who are you?” Lana asked her as looked to see who else was in the common room. Lana saw people who she didn’t know. Then her eyes fell on the man who she still loved.

“But you’re dead.” Lana said, as she sat up with Skye’s help.

“I was dead, but they were able to bring me back.” Phil told her, as he sat down beside her.

Lana leaned into him. She held onto him like her life depended on it.

“I take it she’s happy to see you.” Grant said, as he looked at Phil and Lana. Then he glanced over at Skye before putting his attention back with the couple.

“Yes she is. I am happy to see her as well.” Phil said, as he wrapped his arm around Lana. This was good, he was finally with the woman he loved and he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.

“Exactly who are they?” Lana asked him. Phil wasn’t sure exactly what he could say. He never told her who he worked for.

“Um…”

“He’s my supervisor. Well, he was when he was alive.” Clint’s voice said from the doorway.  

Everyone looked at Clint.

“You work with my brother?” Lana asked as she looked at him.

“Yes, I did.” Phil admitted to her.

Phil was glad at least some of the secret he had he could share with her. He knew all the secrets he had some of them he wasn’t able to share with her, but she knew that when they got together. “How’s Natasha?”

“Tony, Bruce and Tony’s medical team are looking over her. They kicked me out. So I decided to come here.”  

“Clint, I am so sorry for keeping this secret from you. Fury said he would buried me under paperwork for a long time if I contacted you or Natasha.”

Clint looked at Phil and Lana.

“Phil, I know you. You wouldn’t do anything to break my sister’s heart. Fury on the other hand is more about the mission then the well-being of other people emotional state. I have no issue with you. I do have an issue with Fury. I will take it up with him when I get a chance to. Right now I have other things to worry about.” Clint said.

He headed to the kitchen area to go make himself something to eat. He was quiet as he made his food. Lana looked over at him, she was worried about him. When he got to be like this it didn’t do any good to leave him to deal with this himself. She loved Phil, but right now her brother needed her. Lana let go of Phil. Phil nodded his head to say it was okay.

Lana went over to where Clint was, he sat at the table eating. They were both silent. Lana knew he would open up when he was ready.

It was a little while before Tony showed up. Phil hoped he had enough time to cool down. Tony could be a handful at times. Phil knew he could handle him, but he wasn’t sure if Fury could handle Stark. Fury was about to have to handle Stark, due to the whole Phil had been alive this whole time and he didn’t tell them anything. Phil knew it would be something interesting to see what was going to come of the situation now.

“So how long have you've been alive?” Tony asked Phil his arm where folded together in front of him.

“I was told I was dead for twenty- three minutes. After that I was recovery in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. I asked when you guys were going to visit, but Fury told me everyone thought I was dead and it was going to stay that way. I did on numerous occasions try to reach out to you guys, but I stopped at the last second only remember Fury threat of being buried in paperwork for a long time. I am not happy with what happened to Natasha, but I happy that I get to talk to you guys at last.” Phil admitted as his eyes landed on Lana.

“Okay. I will deal with Fury later. I am glad you are back.” Tony said.

Tony looked over at Clint and Lana.

“You do know you have missed out on a lot since you’re supposed death.” Tony said.

Phil nodded his head in agreement.

Things were a lot different. He took it by the way Lana hooked on to him a little while ago she hadn’t moved on with her life. Phil needed to catch up with everything that had gone on with his family since his absent.

“I know. I do hope that I will get the whole story soon.” Phil said.

“You will, but right now would you and your team like a tour of the tower?” Tony asked Phil not ready to hear no for the answer.

“Yes, we would love a tour of your tower.” Phil said, as his team joined him.

“Okay off we go.” Tony said.

Tony first showed them the R&D labs. Then he went to show them the gyms, pools, Bars areas, locker rooms, gymnastic area, shooting ranges, basketball court, tennis, weight room, office areas. Then when they were in the elevator he showed them with the button on the elevator each of the members of the Avengers team’s floor.  The tour took more than an hour to get through.

May joined them half way through the tour.

Tony stopped at one of his floors.

The elevator door opened to show an office area. Phil team went into the office area and looked around.

“This is a nice place.” Leo said. The others nodded their head in agreement.

“Exactly why are we here?” Phil asked Tony.

“This is your team floor.”

“We have the BUS.” Phil said.

“This can be a second base for you guys.” Tony said, as he handed each of them their own id card for The Avengers’ Tower.

“Thank you.”

“Let’s keep this between us. Fury doesn’t have to know.” Tony told them.

Tony wanted to have something Fury couldn’t control. Even if he did find out he had gifted this floor of the Avengers Towers to Phil’s team Fury couldn’t do anything about it.

“Okay. Sounds good to me.” Phil said.

“Let me know how you guys want this floor decorated you can have anything you want. All you have to do is name it.”

“Thank you Tony.”

“Oh...by the way I have a lab for Fitz and Simmons whenever they want to check it out.” Tony said. Leo and Jemma eyes widen a bit.

“Thank you Mr. Stark.” Leo and Jemma said in unison. Leo rocked back and forth with a smile on his face.

“I can show you guys your lab if you want. If you guys need anything then let me know.” Tony told them as he noticed Leo who rocked back and forth in anticipation.

“Yes, we would love to see our lab.” Jemma said.

Tony smiled. He knew they would want to see it as soon as possible. They were fellow scientist, so he had now three people he could talk science with. Tony took both Leo and Jemma to see their lab.

Phil, Grant and Skye were looking around and figuring out exactly what they wanted for each of their offices.

Bucky needed to stretch his leg. He had been on his own for a while. Bucky knew he would have to interact with the others sooner or later. He might as well and tried to get to know the others since he would be living here for the seeable future.

“Jarvis where are the others located?” Bucky asked Jarvis.

“Natasha is in the Medical Wing. Clint is with his sister Lana in the common area having a meal. Bruce is in his lab. Brandon is taking a nap. Tony is in the middle of given a tour of the Tower to his guests.” Jarvis replied. Everyone was busy. He didn’t want to intrude on any of their time. He decided that he would go and work out. Bucky got his workout clothes and headed to the gym.

Bucky started to work out. He had his iPod, the one that Steve have given him as a moving in present. As he listened to the music he had no idea who most of the artist were. A lot had happened since he came out of cryogenic freeze.

Steve was helping him, but he had a family to take care of now. Bucky wasn’t sure if he would still be welcome on Steve’s floor. He would have to talk to Tony about getting his own floor. He wasn’t sure if Tony would give him his own floor, but he had to ask. Things were different with Steve right now. Bucky didn’t want to be a burden on his best friend.  

Bucky stopped for a second.

“Jarvis does Tony have a training area where anyone can train?”

“Yes, but you do not have access to enter the area.” Jarvis replied. So it turned out that would be another thing he would have to take to Stark about.

“Thank you Jarvis that was all I needed to know.”  Bucky told him, as he went back to his work out.   

* * *

 

Lana wasn’t sure exactly what was going on in her brother’s mind right then. He was worried about both Barney and Natasha. For her situation it was a little better than her brothers at the moment.

“I’m not sure what to do.” Clint said, as he looked at his sister.

“Right now all we can do it wait. I know it’s hard and it’s killing the both of us inside, but it’s what we have to do.” Lana told him.

She so much wanted  both her brothers to be well and be closer as a family.  She was going to do her damndest to make it happen. No one was going to stop her from getting what she wanted.

“Natasha is my world and I am not sure what I will do if anything ever happened to her.” Clint quietly told her.

He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his hands over his face. What was he to do now. He was supposed to be the strong on here. At that moment he didn’t feel strong at all.

“Clint whatever happens I will be here for you. No matter what happens now.”

Clint looked over at his sister.

“Thank you. You’re the best.”

“So do you want to see if there any news on Natasha?” Lana asked Clint. Clint looked over at her.

“Yes. I want to make sure she okay.” Clint replied, as he got up and rinsed the dishes and then put them in the dishwasher.

Lana and Clint headed to the Medlab to check on Natasha. It didn’t take long to get to the there.

Natasha sat on the medical table her expression was unreadable. Clint on the other hand knew her. He had a feeling if he didn’t step in soon, then some of Stark’s staff was going to be on the ground with injury. Clint and Lana entered the room.

“How is everything with Natasha?” Clint asked. He saw three pair of eyes on her. Tony’s and two assistants. Make that five pairs. Clint’s and Lana eyes were on her as well.

“It seems like she is unharmed, but instead of three heartbeat we hear four.” Stark told them.

“That’s impossible. There no way there could be a third baby. They monitored everything. We are only having two children. There no way there could be a third child.” Clint said, as he moved over to Natasha’s side.

“It’s true I heard three heartbeats with the ultrasound.”

“How is this possible?”

“I am not sure Clint, but one thing's for sure, we are going to keep Natasha here for surveillance for the next few days.” Tony told him as he saw Natasha raise an eyebrow.

Tony put his hands up.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Clint replied.

“Really Tony,”

“I’m only trying to make sure my friend doesn’t have something wrong with her.” Tony started as he got quiet. A moment later he looked at Natasha and Clint. “Can we compromise?”

“Depends on what you want to compromise on.”

“How about you wear a watch monitor, so Jarvis can watch you. If you do that then you will be able to go about your day like normal.”

Natasha took a few moments to think about this idea. Natasha turned to Clint.

“What do you think?” Natasha asked him.

“I think that’s a reasonable compromise. How quickly can you get the monitor watch?”

Tony looked at his watch.

“In about five minutes, it’s on its way up right now.”

Natasha nodded her head in agreement. She knew Tony was just being a friend and he did care about her and her children. She had a feeling somehow Tony was going to end up as their godfather.

It wasn’t long until one of the medical staff brought them the watch. Tony took it and he started to fiddle with it.  Clint and Natasha looked at him. They waited until he was finished before saying anything.

“Tony what did you do?” Natasha asked cautiously.

“I have to activate it. Plus I programmed it to link me to the live feed, so if anything goes wrong I will be notified immediately.” Tony told them.

Natasha put the watch on, then she looked at it.  It was necessary and she knew that. So she was stuck with it for awhile.

Clint and Natasha smiled at him.

“Thank You.”

“You’re welcome after all I can’t let anything happen to my god kids,” Tony replied.

He missed the looked Clint and Natasha shared which both of them rolled their eyes. They assumed right. Tony did, in fact,  assumed their kids were going to be his godchildren. Both of them would talk about it at a later date.

“Sir we have a commotion outside the building. There is a man demanding to be let in. Both you and Barton are needed. Bruce and James have been notifying as well.” Jarvis told him.

“You heard him Barton let’s go.”

Clint kissed Natasha and took off after Tony.

Clint was by her side. He was glad that she had decided to go along with Tony's suggestion. Lana just watched the scene in front of her. She was glad things were going well for her brother. Now only if Barney woke up thing would be better. Lana moved out into the hallway as not to disturb the others.

“Jarvis, is Bradon still sleeping?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Please let me know when he is awake.”

“I will let you know the moment he’s awake. Miss Barton.”

Lana was grateful Tony was there for them, as a friend, if not things would be way different. She was seven months pregnant and having another child who wasn’t much older wasn’t exactly easy. With the help of Tony’s invention Lana’s life was easier with help from others. Things would have been a lot more different than what it was now if her brother didn’t choose the field he was in.

Part of her was glad she was happy with her life. The other part of her wanted a life being Mrs. Coulson, but that wasn’t going to happen.They had been engaged when he died, but she didn’t know where that stood now.

As far as she was concerned. Phil’s chose work before her. She was sure of that. He had been alive this whole time and didn’t bother reaching out to her, and that told her where she stands in his life. She wasn’t that high on his list. Knowing that hurt.

Barney’s room wasn’t too far away. Lana made her way to his room. Once there she took the chair next to his bed.

* * *

 

Coulson and his team meet in their new office.  They were going to discuss the data and everything they got from their mission. They had their fun for a few hours now it was time to get back to work.

Everyone was gathered around the table.  All the information was laid out on the table. Skye looked up at the others.

“That is the 084 we ran into. Not sure what it really did or how it’s going to affect Natasha.” Skye said.

Phil’s lips thinned into a line.

“Fitz and Simmons, I would like you two to coordinate with Stark’s  scientists to figure out what’s going on with Natasha.

Jemma and Leo nodded their head to acknowledge they would do as he asked.

Suddenly the light in the towers blinked on and off and then everything shook.

“Jarvis, what’s the situation?” Phil asked.

“The disturbance is a man who is outside The Avengers Tower demanding to be let in,” Jarvis said as the image appeared on the screen in front of them.

“That’s Valentine,” Skye exclaimed.

Everyone headed to where Valentine was. When they got there Tony, Bruce, Bucky and Clint in gear stood to point their respectable weapon at him.

“I need your help,” Valentine said.

“Why should we help you?” Clint asked.

“If you don’t then the earth will be destroyed.”

“Do you have proof?” Tony asked eyeing him.

“2364 Maplewood Street.”

“Isn’t that the building?” Skye asked.

“Yes, it is,” Phil replied.

“Jarvis shows us 2364 Maplewood Street,” Tony said.

It was a few moments which passed by. When the image appeared there wasn’t a building there. The building there was in flames. Firefighters were trying to put the fire out.

“That’s only a small glimpse of what will happen in the 084 activates at full power,” Valentine told them.

“Why are you coming to us for help.”

“If this thing goes full power I don’t know what will happen to me. I don’t want to die, so I want your help to get this thing out of me.” Valentine said as he opened his coat.

There on his chest where his heart was; was a red gemstone.  It wasn’t really big, but it did emit a red glow from it. Phil’s team eyes were on him while the Avengers' eyes were on Valentine.

“Jarvis is there anything that could hold this?” Tony asked.

There was a pause.

“Sir, I suggest you move this to Area 25,” Jarvis said.

“You’re coming with us,” Tony said as he moved over to Valentine’s side. Tony then shot something at Valentine. A few moments later he was surrounded by plastic.

“This will hold you until we get to Area 25.” Tony as he urged Valentine towards the elevator.

Valentine didn’t put up any resistance. He moved towards the elevator. Once he was in everyone stepped in and stood as a far away from his as the elevator would let them. The whole time Valentine had a smile on his face.

“What are you smiling about?” Grant asked him.

“You’ll help me in the end,” Valentine told them.

“Of course it will be to save the world once again,” Tony replied. He eyed Valentine. “If you didn’t figure it out. That is our job. To keep the world safe from scum like you.”

Leo and Jemma who were next to one another looked at Valentine.

“I wonder if we can figure out what this is before it blows us to bits,” Jemma said. Leo looked at her.

“I am sure we will figure it out. We always do.” Leo told her. Jemma gave him a smile.

For the rest of the elevator ride, it was quiet.  There was a ding as the elevator reached it designated floor.  When the door opened Tony lead them to a door. There was a light which scanned him.

“Anthony Stark. Permission granted.”

“Jarvis activate Protocol Jellybean.”

“Yes sir,” Jarvis said.

Tony looked at the group and he had quite a few eyebrows raised.

“What?”

“Jellybean, really?” Phil asked.

“Yes, it’s better than some of the other names I had.”

“Okay,”  Phil said.

A second later there was a light emitting from a corner. It scanned everyone.

“Access granted.”

“Let’s get a move on,” Tony said, as he guided Valentine into one of the rooms.

“Now what?” Valentine asked.

“Jarvis, scan him please.”

“Yes sir,” Jarvis said, as Valentine became still. He tried to move, but there wasn’t any use.

“Why can’t I move?” Valentine asked.

“For the scan, it needs you completely still.”

“Scanning in progress,” Jarvis said.

There was a light which started at Valentine's head and went all the way down to his feet.

“It will take an hour to get the results back,” Jarvis said.

“I guess we will be here for a while unless anyone wants to leave,” Tony said. He looked over at the others. Everyone shook their head. “Okay, that settled that.”

Bucky stood at the door of the room where Valentine was at.

“James you don’t have to keep an eye on him, this place is secure,” Tony told him.

“It’ll make me feel better if I watch him,” Bucky replied.

Bucky ignores the fact Tony had used his first name instead of his nickname.

“Suit yourself,” Tony said.

The others were in the area which had a table large enough to  accommodate them all.

“So what are we going to do about Valentine?” Leo asked.

“We are going to let the scan complete then we're going to get the stone out of him,” Tony said.

“Scan will be completed in five minutes. The results will be shown on your tablet sir,” Jarvis told him.

“Thank You.”

Tony looked over at others.

“Since we’re here, I might as well give you the tour of this place.”

Everyone nodded their head in agreement except for Bucky who still stood guard over Valentine. Tony lead them to varies places in the area and they followed and listened to what he said.

There was a beep from the tablet which broke the tour up. Tony looked over at the data. Leo and Jemma joined him. It was amazing at the result which the scan had produced.

“No way,” Jemma said.

“What is it?” Bucky asked. He wondered what they had seen in the data to get the reaction he saw.

“Salt water will have the 084 unbounded to him,” Jemma said.

“Are you sure Phil asked as he looked at the three scientists.

“Yes, Jemma is correct all we need to remove the stone from Valentine is salt water,” Leo said, as he moved over to the cabinet to get what they needed to get the stone out of Valentine. Tony went to get a box to hold the stone in.

It was a few minutes before the stone was separated from Valentine and put in a box which would hold it. Tony disappeared for a few moments and then reappeared without the box. Everyone was sure he had put the box away where no one could find it, or get to it to use it again.

Valentine was still in the plastic bubble when the SHIELD Agents came to pick him up. Phil and his team went back to their floor when Valentine was taken away.

“We are going to stay here a few days. Then we will get moving, it will be sooner if something comes up.”

* * *

 

Everyone nodded their heads, then headed off in their separate direction. Phil knew he needed to talk to Lana. He had missed her and was glad she was alive and well. Now since things seemed to be wrapped up, he could take some time to talk to the woman he still loved. Phil stepped into the elevator.

“Jarvis where is Lana Barton?”

“On the medical floor in her brother room.”

“Thank you. Jarvis can you get me to the medical floor please.”  Phil asked.

“Sure thing Agent Coulson,” Jarvis said.

The elevator started to move silently. It didn’t take too long to get to the medical floor. Phil got out and made his way to Barney’s room. He looked into the room to see Lana who sat in a chair next to her older brother’s  bed. She was quietly talking to him.

Phil cleared his throat to let her know he was there. Lana looked up and there was a smile which appeared on her face. Lana tried to stand but wasn’t having any luck. Phil was by her side and gave her a hand up.

“Phil, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to talk to you.”

“I’m glad you are okay, but it doesn’t get you off the hook for faking your own death.”

“I know.”

“Good, we’ve got that cleared up. Now let me know what’s been going on with you. I mean that parts you can share with me.” Lana said.

Lana knew there would always be secrets Phil wouldn’t be able to share with her, she was okay with that. The only thing she wasn’t okay with was being away from him for so long.

“What’s going on is, I’ve missed you and on numerous occasions picked up the phone to call you...but had to stop not for the fact if I did call you I would be up to my ass filling out paperwork.”

“Who’s going to give you paperwork if you got in contact with me?” Lana asked in a dangerous serious voice.

Phil knew that tone, he had been on the receiving end of that voice a couple of times. He knew better than to hold back any information from her when she used that voice. He did that once and he regretted the next day.

“Nick Fury.” Phil quietly told her.

“Thank you,” Lana replied.

“The team I have is good, but I have enjoyed working with the Avengers even if it was only for a few hours. Now I am in charge of my own team. I am okay. I am the happiest with you.” Phil admitted.

“I am glad to hear that,” Lana said as she gave him a smile.

Lana looked at him. Now it was time to tell him what had been going on with her.

“What is it?” Phil asked.

“Phil,” Lana started as she stepped a little closer to him. “Clint and Natasha came to Portland Oregan to tell me the news you were dead. They hadn’t even been there for an hour when we got kidnapped.  The kidnapper gasses us with some chemicals, it wasn’t pretty. After we were rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. Barney was shot  before we got rescued that is why we are here.”

Phil pulled her into a hug.

“The chemical he used had our sex drive in overdrive. It didn’t leave any room for free will…”

Phil stroked Lana's hair.

“Lana who the father of your child?” Phil strained voice asked.

“Bucky.”

“The Winter Soldier?”

“Yes,” Lana said as she started to cry.

Phil hugged her a little tighter and whispered sweet nothing into her ears until she calmed down.

It was a few moments of silent until one of them said something.

“Lana, it doesn’t matter whose child it is. I am here if you need me.” Phil said.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So your first child is with the Winter Soldier.”

“About that,” Lana said with a little hesitation, as she took a step back from him.

“What about that. Are you saying there’s another child I don’t know about?” Phil asked.

“You sort of already know about him.”

“How so?”

“Do you remember a while ago you had to watch a baby boy because the mother was kidnapped?” Lana asked.

Phil thought about it for a few seconds.

“Yes, I do his name was Brandon. Why are you reminding me of him?”

“He’s your son.”

Phil's mouth was agape. Lana to her index finger and closed his mouth for him.

“I was going to tell you  next time we meet, but you got supposedly killed,” Lana said. She put air quotation when she said supposedly.

“Umm...sorry about that.” Phil softly said.

“It’s okay now.”

“Where’s Brandon now?”

“He’s in his crib sleeping.”

“Can I see him when he wakes up?” Phil asked.

Lana gave him a smile.

“Sure, after all, you are his father.”

Phil just smiled when he heard he would meet his son properly when he woke up.

Lana knew there was still a lot of work ahead of them. They had to work through before they would be okay...but she knew they would be okay in the end.

“What happen? Where am I?” Barney’s scratchy voice asked.

Lana turned around and smile down at her brother. She took one of his hands in hers.

“Barney,” Lana said, as a single tear ran down her cheek.

“Lana?”

“Yes, it's me.”

“What happened?”

“Let’s get you better, then I’ll fill you in,” Lana said as she pushed the nurse’s button.

Lana smiled as they waited for the nurse or doctor to come to the room.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Banner & Wallpaper] Road to Recovery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8601937) by [Knowmefirst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knowmefirst/pseuds/Knowmefirst)




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